Cardiff (Caerdydd)

Cardiff (Caerdydd)

As you know, staying in the UK means travel around all its countries, not just in England. So this time, I decided to go to Cardiff, the capital of Wales.

Cardiff is a beautiful city, so it is a significant tourist centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales. But, a really interesting thing about this place is that the people there speak mainly two languages: English and Welsh. Welsh is a member of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales. So, Can you imagine the signs on the streets written in Welsh? For me that is really amazing!

The interesting thing with the Welsh language is that this has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout recorded history but by 1911 it had become a minority language. While this decline continued over the following decades, the language did not die out!! and now it has enjoyed a strong revival in recent years and has an equal status with English in the public sector in Wales. The teaching of Welsh is now compulsory in all schools in Wales up to the age of 16, and this has had a major effect in stabilising and reversing the decline of the language. So, the Welsh language is the oldest language in Europe.

All these facts make me think how important are our traditions, culture and our inheritance, but, the most important is our role in our own countries to preserve and conserve that things that make us unique!